All Jokes Aside
by sonamyfanfiction
Summary: Amy decides she is going to tell Sonic how she feels about him. However, when he makes it all out to be a joke things get way out of hand. As always, Eggman swoops in to make everything even worse! Except this time he has another tactic to take over the universe. What has he got planned? Will it work? What will become of Sonic, Amy and the gang?


It's a gloomy day on the usually glorious planet of Mobius today. It started out with a simple thunderstorm, a few lightning strikes and then everything bent out of shape. Unbelievable winds, hail storms, rains, snow, all to the point where the power has cut out all across Sonic and the gang's region of the planet. Even Sonic hasn't been seen running around looking about. Luckily, Tails was able to get through to everyone through their wrist communicators and have them all come over to his and Sonic's humble abode where they owned a generator. It had been quite some time since the gang had all been together, considering they hadn't heard much of Eggman in two months or more. When the weather died down slightly for an hour or so, the gang quickly made their way over and came inside. The first to arrive was none other than Cream and Cosmo. Tails liked Cosmo, a lot…

The girls ran as fast as their legs could take them through puddles and mud up to Tails' workshop doorstep, figuring that's where they would more than likely get a quick response. They knocked on the door rapidly and yelled out for Sonic and Tails. Sonic was lounging about on a chair near Tails who was tinkering on the X-Tornado.  
'Tails get the door for Cream and your Mrs.' Sonic said casually with a slight smirk, keeping his eyes closed.  
'Shut up, Sonic. She's not my girlfriend and if you say anything I'll-'  
'Chill out, pal, I'm messing with you!' Sonic cut him off putting up his hands defensively. Tails rolled his eyes and ran to the door, opening to see two very cold faces.  
'H-Hi Tails, c-can we come i-in?' Cream shivered.  
'You don't need to ask, girls, just get in here!' Tails exclaimed as he caught Cosmo's eyes and they both began to smile and blush.  
Sonic greeted them and gestured for them to sit down in some beanbags near them. Only minutes later Knuckles, Shadow and Rouge came waltzing in without even knocking. Usually they would but by this time the storm had really picked up and it was merely too cold to wait outside to wait for the door to be answered.  
'Hey guys, how's it goin'?' Knuckles greeted as they walked in shaking the water of his fur.  
'Hey man, one hell of a storm out aye!' Sonic exclaimed as Tails greeted the others with hot chocolate.  
'You got that right, Blue. I haven't seen anything like this in a long time.' Rouge said as she sat down besides Cream.  
'I'll bet you're losing it not being able run more than a few metres, hey Faker?' Shadow said with as much of a smirk as he could muster.  
'I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going slightly insane.' Sonic admitted.  
'Slightly insane? Don't get me started…' Tails said, making everyone including Shadow laugh. Just as they stopped laughing, a bright light began to shine in the centre of the workshop and out stepped a lilac feline and a grey hedgehog.

'Hi Miss Blaze, Mr. Silver.' Cream greeted them as the light disappeared.  
'Hello Cream. Greetings everyone, some storm you've got going on here in the past.' Blaze said.  
'Hell yeah! We thought we'd drop by and check it out.' Silver added.  
'Unfortunately we are unable to stay for long, however.' Blaze said as she shot Silver a glance.  
'Aww c'mon, Blaze, pwetty pwease?' Silver asked pulling a puppy dog face and nuzzling her shoulder. The two weren't dating, but the gang knew that the futuristic duo had a long time crush on each other.  
'It's not that I don't want to, Silver, but you know that it was dangerous coming here during a storm as is to begin with.' Blaze said apologetically.  
'That's alright, it's nice to see you both again even if it is for a short time.' Cosmo said with a smile. Blaze and Silver sat down with a cup of hot chocolate each and smiled at Cosmo.

'Hey guys, isn't Amy supposed to be coming over?' Knuckles questioned.  
'Yeah, she should be here by now right?' Rouge added.  
'You're right, I wonder where she is. Hang on a second and I'll try and get through to her.' Tails said. Just as her went to call Amy on her wrist communicator, everyone was startled by a large knocking on the door.  
'Ah! Guys, anyone there? Let me in!' A female voice exclaimed from outside the door. Sonic recognized the female voice immediately and dashed for the door opening it quickly as Amy collapsed into his arms. Sonic quickly caught her awkwardly accidently grabbing her chest, suddenly realizing that in two months she had become more of a woman, he certainly began to blush…  
'Amy?! Are you ok?' Sonic exclaimed as Cream ran up to her with a blanket wrapping it around her.  
'Yeah. Yes. I'm ok, it's just…' Amy paused trying to catch her breath.  
'Amy?' Cosmo chimmed in.  
'I'm fine it's just I was nearly here and the storm picked up really suddenly, especially the wind. It caught me off guard and actually forced me into a tree. My back is aching but I don't think anything is broken.' Amy finished, trying to stand herself up. Tails and the other looked on with shocked expressions as Sonic guided her over to the armchair her was sitting on. Rouge quickly brought her over some hot chocolate.  
'Are you feeling better now that you're warm?' Blaze questioned.  
'Yeah yeah, don't worry I'm ok.' Amy insisted.  
'Still, I think I better take a look at your back and check for bruises and such.' Tails suggested.  
'Well, alright then.' Amy agreed.  
'On that note, we should get going. If the storm is really that bad, we can't risk getting hurt trying to get back.' Blaze said. Silver nodded and raised an emerald.  
'Chaos control.' Silver exclaimed. The light appeared again and they waved goodbye as they stepped inside the portal and disappeared. Everyone waved them goodbye and then guided Amy to lean over so the girls could pull up her red sports dress for Tails to examine her back.

'You've got a few scrapes and bruises, Amy, but they'll heal within the week. You'll be fine.' Tails said with a smile and a thumbs up.  
'Thanks Tails, I told you.' Amy said with a giggle. The two friends walked into the living room where the rest of the gang was lounging about, except for Cream and Cosmo who were preparing a feast for everyone. Amy cautiously took a seat next took Sonic on the lounge and joined in on the conversation with he and the others as Tails sauntered over to the kitchen to help the girls cook dinner.  
'Can I help you, Cosmo?' Tails question as he noticed her stirring something in a large bowl. She couldn't help but blush slightly when he said her name.  
'Sure, Tails, would you mind mixing this while I grab the salt?' Cosmo asked and without any further question he took the bowl from her as she turned around to the cupboard. The salt was on the top shelf, which she couldn't reach. Both Tails and Cream noticed her struggling, Cream gave a slight head twitch gesturing for him to help her. He placed the bowl on the bench, walked over to grab her by the waist and flew her up to the top shelf for her to grab the salt. They landed gently back on the ground and they both let out a slight giggle.  
'Thank you, Tails.' Cosmo said with a smile.  
'No worries, Cosmo.' Tails said trying to hide his stained red cheeks. Cream began to giggle at how cute her two close friends were with each other. Cream was a little younger than all the others, she didn't take much interest in 'love' and all that jazz. What she did know of it though was that it was happy and sweet, well, that was the side of it she could see anyway.

Rouge and Shadow were beginning to blab on about something they were doing at work, obviously nothing they weren't allowed to speak of considering they were spies. Knuckles was beginning to doze off on the lounge so Amy saw this as an opportunity to strike up a private conversation with her blue hero.  
'Hey Sonic,' Amy began nervously as Sonic turned to face her with a smile, 'would you mind stepping out into the workshop with me for a minute?' she finished as casually as she could.  
'Sure, Ames.' Sonic said just as casually, the difference being he was actually feeling relaxed and casual. They quickly made their way down a few stairs without anyone noticing and into Tails' workshop and Amy walked a few steps in front of Sonic with her back facing him, unable to figure out how to begin.  
'How's your back feeling?' Sonic said deciding to be the one to strike up the conversation.  
'Uh, it's ok. Still aching a little but it's fine.' Amy said turning around with a crooked smile.  
'That's great, so what did you want to see me in private for? Is everything ok?' Sonic question as he sat down on the double arm chair and gestured for Amy to take a seat next to him.  
'Well Sonic,' she began as she took as seat next to him, 'we've been friends for a long time now and… and well we've both matured… I'm not who I used to be, you know, death gripping you, screaming your name, proposing to you and such.' Amy paused as they both giggled at this statement. 'I just wanted to tell you that, well, you know how I feel about you. I love you, Sonic. I-I-I wanted to know if we could go on a date. You know, seriously, we could be boyfriend/girlfriend… sorta thing, you know?' she finished, unsure of what she was saying or if she was even finished. Sonic paused and stared at her for a good thirty seconds, which began to make Amy nervous.  
'Sonic? Aren't you going to answer?' she question him. He couldn't help himself, he burst into tears with laughter.  
'Wait, wait, wait, hold up. Amy Rose is for real chilled out and asking me out like an actual person?' Sonic said between laughs as Amy sat there embarrassed and shocked.  
'You're kidding?!' Sonic continued laughing.  
'Uh, no? Soooo, what do you think?' Amy questioned, with a confused expression on her face.  
'Oh, Amy, you crack me up!' Sonic said standing up and headed for the door leading to the living room. Amy could only sit there as Sonic walked out of the room. Shocked, confused, embarrassed and hurt.

After a delicious roast meal, everyone helped Cream and Cosmo do the washing up and clearing away and then made their way back to the living room area for movies. The weather still hadn't gotten any lighter so the figured they would be hanging around for at least another day or so.  
'Thank God you guys have a generator.' Rouge said as she snuggled up in a blanket on the couch next to Knuckles, making him blush anxiously.  
'Agreed, it's way too cold to not have any heat going!' Cosmo exclaimed as her and Cream curled up in a giant doona.  
'Haha, it's great to be all together again. Even if it's under crappy circumstances.' Tails said with a smile. Amy sat awkwardly on a single armchair in a blanket near Cream and Cosmo, rolling her eyes, trying not to say anything sarcastic out of hurt after Sonic's asshole move earlier that evening.  
'Amen, brother. Hey Tails, come and help get a few of the DVDs.' Sonic said as he headed towards one of the hallway cupboards and his brotherly figure followed.  
'Pick something descent.' Shadow said, lying down in the middle of the floor as the two walked out.

'Guess what happened earlier?' Sonic said with a giggle as he was rummaging through some old DVDs.  
'What?' Tails questioned.  
'Did you see when Amy took me away earlier? We went to the workshop.'  
'I kinda saw you guys leave. Why?'  
'She asked me out, again.' Sonic said picking out a few action movies.  
'So? What's new?' Tails said, picking up a few comedy movies.  
'She was serious. She babbled on about how she wasn't the same girl anymore and how she wanted us to be serious and all that junk. It was the funniest joke she had ever come out with! I nearly wet myself laughing!' Sonic said beginning to laugh again just thinking about it.  
'Jesus Christ… you didn't?' Tails said shocked. Sonic stopped laughing and looked down to him.  
'What? Why?'  
'She wouldn't have been joking, Sonic?!' Tails exclaimed, his eyes near bulging out of his head.  
'Oh come on, Tails, sure she was.'  
'Let me guess, after you tried to contain yourself, she didn't move. She just sat there and tried to join in laughing but it wasn't the same laugh as you right?' Tails said with his arms folded.  
'Yeah, but-'  
'I'm also guessing you slapped her on the back, told her she was funny and walked out laughing and she didn't follow you. Right?'  
'Uh-oh…' Sonic said with a very scared expression on his face. Tails face palmed his forehead and began to wonder how he was going to help his best friend fix this blunder. They made their way back into the living room with the movies as casually as possible and put on one of the comedy movies Tails had picked out.  
After two or three movies, everyone had fallen asleep. Except Sonic. He wouldn't admit to anyone, not even to Tails, barely to himself, but he was so wrapped up in guilt that he couldn't sleep. Imagine how Amy must have felt? He knew how she felt about him but, he just couldn't take what she said seriously? It just wasn't like her to be so calm the way she was. He lay on the lounge, sprawled out awkwardly looking out the window at the rain. He then turned to look at all of his friends in their quiet slumbers. Amy looked so peaceful, so pretty. _Did he just call her pretty?_ Until he noticed the residue of a tear down her cheek, he knew exactly what that was from. He turned away, curled up into a ball and pulled a blanket over himself. After half an hour or so he finally forced himself to fall asleep.

The next morning, the storm had let up. The rain, wind and snow had finally eased and the sky was only dark and cloudy. Cream and Tails had both woken up early and decided to tidy up a little before everyone else woke up, cleaning up the kitchen and living room area, putting away the DVDs and fixing up the generator to switch back to regular powered electricity. Tails told Cream about Sonic and Amy's 'discussion' from the night before, Cream couldn't help but feel sad for Amy and even a little upset at Sonic's reaction.  
'Do you think Sonic really thought it was a joke?' Cream questioned as she took out the garbage.  
'What do you mean?' Tails asked, confused.  
'Well, you know what he's like. Maybe it was just his way of handling it?'  
'You make a good point. Although when he told me about it he seemed genuinely freaked when I made him realize his mistake.' Tails told her. Cream gave him a lop-sided smile and then brought up Cosmo, making Tails blush furiously.  
'Don't play dumb, Tails. You can't hide it from me.' Cream giggled as she assisted Tails in fiddling with the generator, everyone else still inside asleep.  
'Ah, c'mon Cream. It's not worth discussing, I mean-'  
'Tails. You like her, she likes you. Just say something.' Cream cut him off.  
'She likes me?' Tails questioned, his cheeks stained red.  
'She's one of my best friends and you're like my brother. As if I wouldn't know?' Cream said and Tails nodded in agreement. They both smiled and walked back to the living room to find everyone awake and packing up everything they were sleeping with and making breakfast. Tails and Cream went over the kitchen and helped Cosmo finish preparing breakfast.

Sonic, Amy, Rouge, Knuckles and Shadow were busy folding sheets, stacking pillows and packing away foldout mattresses. Shadow was busy helping Knuckles and Rouge pack up their end of the room which left Sonic and Amy alone. It was silent for a while, until Sonic accidentally turned around abruptly and knocked both he and Amy over, send pillows everywhere.  
'Ah! Amy, I-I'm sorry, are you ok?' He said trying to help her up but she pushed him off her.  
'I'm fine thank you.' She said bluntly, grabbed the pillows and walked away. Sonic let out a sigh and cursed under his breath.  
They all quickly finished packing everything away, by which time breakfast was ready. They all sat around the table, talking about the movies they watched the night before, Cosmo's cooking, joking around and the storm.  
'You have a sick sense of humour, Knuckles…' Rouge said.  
'Aww come on, Rouge. It was funny!' Knuckles exclaimed.  
'Dirty Deeds is NOT a funny movie.' Cream added.  
'Agreed!' Cosmo chimed in. Shadow pulled a half smirk as Tails joined in on the heated discussion. Sonic and Amy merely sat in silence, no one noticing surprisingly enough. They continued eating and talking as the gang normally would until Amy interrupted their conversation.  
'You'll have to excuse me, everyone, I need to be getting home. I'll talk to you all later.' She said as she quickly made her way out.  
'That was strange?' Rouge said.  
'I don't even notice anymore…' Knuckles said with a smirk.  
'Lay off, Knuckles!' Sonic exclaimed rising from the table and dashed out of the room. Everyone sat there, still and shocked. Not long after everyone returned to their own homes after everyone had their electricity back.

Evening came around and the clouds had thinned out, still blackening the sky but certainly changing the mood of the weather in the past 24 hours. Amy had called Cosmo and Cream to let them know she was ok, she told them she was just unwell. She didn't want to talk about what had really happened, especially over the phone. Rouge on the other hand knew something had happened and was determined to find out, also giving Amy an Amy an outlet or 'a shoulder to cry on'. Around 4pm, Amy was lying on her lounge reading a book when she heard her door knock a few times.  
'Just a second!' Amy said as she got up and walked to the door.  
'Hey girl.' Rouge said as Amy opened the door, Amy gave a small smile and stepped aside so Rouge could walk in.  
'Alright, I'm going to cut right to the chase. Something happened last night and I wanna know what it is.' Rouge said as she sat herself down on the lounge.  
'Honestly, Rouge, I don't know what-'  
Rouge cut her off with one of those don't-try-and-lie-looks, causing Amy to sigh and take a seat next to her. She decided it wasn't worth holding in, it was practically pointless trying to hide it from a trained spy. She told her everything that had happened as she made them both a cup of tea.  
'Well I'll be honest with you, Hun, I'm proud of you.' Rouge said taking a sip of her tea.  
'Why?' Amy questioned, genuinely confused.  
'You handled it really well, all the way through. You told him everything straight out calmly and confidently. Then when he was a dickhead about it, unintentionally by the sounds of it, you kept your cool and gave him the cold shoulder this morning. He's worked out he screwed up, trust me.' Rouge stated proudly.  
'How would you know? I love Sonic but he can be pretty thick.' Amy admitted reluctantly.  
'Thanks to you, partly, he's figured it out.'  
'Partly?'  
'That and Tails told me about how Sonic told him everything that happened and Tails filled him in on how he made a dick move.' Rouge said with a coy smile.  
'Ah. Yeah that would probably do it.' Amy said, slightly embarrassed.  
'Don't stress it, babe, it'll blow over. He'll apologise, you'll forgive him and everything will go back to normal.' Rouge said confidentially. Amy began to question whether or not she should forgive him, but decided she didn't want to talk about it now. She was probably just being silly anyway…

Rouge left not long after, making Amy feel a little better for having talked to a friend. It would've been around 6pm when she heard another knock on the door. _Hmm? Must be Rouge again. _Amy thought to herself, much to her surprise, it wasn't Rouge.  
'Sonic?' Amy said startled, then composed herself by clearing her throat. 'What are you doing here?'  
'I can't come and visit my friend, Amy Rose?' Sonic said with his signature smirk. His emerald eyes dazzling, staring into hers and his body only a few paces from hers. Amy was trying as hard as ever not to stretch out her arms and hold him.  
'You can, but it's not often you do. So what do you want?' Amy said stepping back to let him in. They both took a seat on the lounge, Amy wanted to remain polite at least until he said something about last night.  
'Well, Ames, I wanted to apologise for last night.' He said casually as he fiddled with his fingers. _Here we go.  
_'Is that so?' Amy said just as casual, toying with him a little.  
'Yeah, you see, I didn't know you were being serious and-'  
'Forget it.' Amy cut him off as she stood up and walked to the kitchen and Sonic followed.  
'Really?' he questioned cautiously.  
'Yeah. I mean you probably already had until Tails or someone sent you over, then you were going to forget again once you left. It's what you do, I know you couldn't care less so don't pretend you do.' She said calmly with a sarcastic smile on her face.  
'Oh come on, Amy, don't be like that. Tails didn't-' Sonic said.  
'Like what? Honest?' she said as she unpacked her dishwasher, trying to keep herself occupied so she wouldn't lose her mind at him.  
'Amy, you know I care about you… It's just-'  
'GIVE IT A REST!' She yelled at him as she whirled around to face him, he just stood there with a blank expression on his face and unable to speak._ Too late, here it comes. _  
'You're so full of crap, Sonic! You couldn't give a damn about me! Just lay off and stop lying! You don't understand that what you do has an effect on-' Amy cut herself off as she dropped a few plates on the ground and the shattered all around her, cutting her foot slightly.  
'ARGH!' she exclaimed in pain and frustration.  
'Please, Ames let me help you.' Sonic said has he tried to get closer and help her.  
'Go! Go home, Sonic! Leave!' She yelled at him and he did as he was told. He turned around, walked out the door and gently closed it behind him. He walked a few steps before he dashed of towards his and Tails' home. When Amy knew he was gone, she fell onto the floor amongst the broken glass and began to cry.

'W-Why? W-What am I doing wrong?' Amy said between sobs.  
'Nothing. He's just a tool.'  
'Knuckles, don't say that about your best friend.' Amy snapped back at him. After she had contained herself enough to get her phone, she called Knuckles and told him to come over. She needed her brother right now.  
'Amy, you're like my sister and even though Sonic is my mate, I'll kill him if I have too.' Knuckles said bluntly.  
'I wish I hadn't yelled at him. I mean, yeah he's an idiot and he's clearly thick but I guess it wasn't his fault, right? He thought I was joking.' Amy tried to reassure Knuckles, and herself.  
'Whether you were joking or not, he shouldn't have reacted like that. He should've been more careful.'  
'Sonic is never careful… Oh ok I get it now.' Amy said, suddenly understanding Sonic's reaction. Knuckles rolled his eyes and scooted over close enough to her so he could put his hand on her shoulder.  
'Look, kiddo. Go and take a relaxing bath and get an early night, you'll feel much better in the morning I'm sure.' Knuckles suggested with a hint of a smile.  
'Well, I guess I've done all the chores around the house. I wasn't planning to do anything else this evening I suppose. Ok then, I'll see you tomorrow though, right?' Amy questioned hopefully.  
'Of course, I'll swing by soon. Catchya.' Knuckles said standing up and letting himself out. When the door closed behind him, Amy let out a sigh and made her way to the bathroom.  
She turned on the bath and put some bubble mix in and let it fill. She stood in front of her full length mirror and looked at herself. She sighed again as she took out her bright red headband, placed it on the table and ruffled her quills a little. She gently slipped off her gloves and red sports dress, then looked at herself again. She suddenly realized how much she had grown up, especially when she saw herself in her undergarments.  
'I honestly thought you'd be mine by now, Sonic… Hmph, who was I trying to kid?' she said aloud to herself as she slipped off her undergarments and got into the bath. A tear began to form in her eye but she refused to let it fall, she just wanted to be strong tonight even if it was only for herself.

Knuckles slowly made his way back to Angel Island, he couldn't stop thinking about Amy. He would never say it aloud to anyone but he does love her, you know, like a sister. He knows how weak she is when it comes to feelings and is tired of seeing her like this.  
'I really oughta pay that blue bastard a visit. Although, I guess Amy wouldn't really like that much.' Knuckles said aloud to himself. He clenched his fists as he tried to contain his anger, and then an ivory bat involuntarily flashed in his mind. Rouge. This calmed him for a minute. He wouldn't admit this, out loud… EVER… but he loved her, not like a sister. They were meant to be together, they drove each other nuts and pounded the crap out of each other on a daily basis but they made each other laugh and there was a flirtatious subtly behind everything between them. He would never admit to her how he felt but he vowed to never hurt her the way Sonic hurt Amy.  
'That's it, I'm going to see Sonic right now!' Knuckles exclaimed to himself.  
'Well, that's funny. So am I!' A voice exclaimed behind him and Knuckles whipped around.  
'Eggman?! What do you want?' Knuckles shouted, preparing himself for battle.  
'Oh keep calm my friend! I believe we can help each other!' Eggman said as he came a little closer to Knuckles. Knuckles arched an eyebrow, curious to know what the doctor was up to. He folded his arms and nodded, gesturing for Eggman to tell him what he wanted.  
'Well, Knuckles, my dear friend Knuckles-'  
'Enough with the sweet talk, Egghead, cut to the chase.' Knuckles cut him off.  
'You and your gang have three emeralds, I need three emeralds.' Eggman put bluntly.  
'Pfft, don't waste my time.' Knuckles huffed and turned around to walk off.  
'Ah but wait, there is more.' Eggman said quickly, causing Knuckles to turn around quickly.  
'I need them to power a machine. A machine that will send me away from this corner of the universe and to somewhere else for me to retire, the emeralds will disappear back to their home once they've done their job I assure you.' Eggman concluded.  
'Is that so, Eggman? So guarantee can you give me that this isn't a scam?' Knuckles questioned.  
'Fair question. Let me show you.' Eggman says as he brought up a hologram screen viewing his new machine. 'I want to retire, Knuckles, I've had enough of all of this. This machine I've designed right here will send me away to a nice place so I can spend the rest of my days in peace. However, it will obviously require a great deal of power, such as chaos emeralds.'  
'I understand. Let me think on it, I will talk to you soon. Deal?' Knuckles questioned.  
'Alright then, you know where to find me.' Eggman said kindly. Knuckles nodded and continued walking his way home. As soon as he was out of earshot, Eggman began talking aloud.  
'So vulnerable. So weak. It's just too easy! HOOO HOHOHOHOHOHO!' He laughed as he flew off in his small hovercraft.

Knuckles decided he would go and tell Sonic and Tails about Eggman's plan as he was passing by their house on the way to his own. He knocked on Tails' workshop door and Sonic answered.  
'C'mon in, pal.' Sonic said cheerfully, stepping aside to let him aside. Knuckles didn't want to start anything about him and Amy right now so he had to control his anger. He merely gave him a nod and walked on through.  
'Hey Knux, what's happening?' Tails greeted him as he was adjusting the Tornado's wing.  
'I need the three chaos emeralds we have.' Knuckles said bluntly. Sonic and Tails both looked up at him quickly, turned to look at each other then looked back to Knuckles.  
'Seriously though, what's going on?' Tails asked again.  
'Eggman needs them. For good causes. If we give them to him, his new machine transports him away, forever, he showed me. Then the emeralds come back to us. He is retiring.' Knuckles said, remaining blunt.  
'You're kidding yourself, Knucklehead. He is tricking you, once again.' Sonic said.  
'No, this is real. He showed it to me.'  
'C'mon Knuckles, don't make this harder than it has to be.' Tails said cautiously.  
'Give me the emeralds, guys.' Knuckles said again, the tension rising.  
'Not happening, Knuckles. End of discussion.' Sonic said firmly as he made his way up stairs into the living room.  
'Sorry, Knux.' Tails said as he followed Sonic. Knuckles stood still and thought it all through for a minute more.  
'If you give them to me, I'm taking them.' Knuckles said as he walked over to the chest where the emeralds were kept. He keyed in the pin and it opened. He quickly snatched the emeralds, closed and locked the chest and left again.  
Later that night he came across Eggman again, not a word was spoken. He threw them the emeralds and began to turn around to leave.  
'Not so fast, Knuckles. Please say hello to my gorgeous new contraption!' Eggman exclaimed as his new machine appeared out of nowhere. Knuckles gasped in surprise and slight fear, questioning his actions.  
'Impressive, Eggy. I'll be going now.' Knuckles said, trying to hide his nerves.  
'I don't think so. HO HOHOHOHOHOHO!'

Around 1 or 2pm the next day, Sonic and Amy were taking a casual stroll around a beautiful hilltop. It was covered in blooming trees, bushes and flowers. The rivers were crystal clear and the clouds had finally cleared up to show a beautiful blue sky and bright sun.  
'Sonic, I'm so sorry. I was out of line to yell at you. I was just-'  
'Don't be sorry, Ames. Please don't. I'm the one who should be sorry, I screwed up.' Sonic said as they took a seat under a tall oak tree by the river.  
'I still feel bad, I've never yelled at you like that before and I swear I didn't mean to.'  
'I know, I know. Stop apologizing.' Sonic smiled as he carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders.  
'You know, Ames, there's something I've been meaning to tell you… I actually-'  
'SONIC! AMY! OVER HERE!' Tails cut Sonic off with his screams as he was running up to them.  
'EGGMAN CAPTURED KNUCKLES! AND THE EMERALDS, THEY'RE GO-'  
_Whoosh!_ Tails had been swooped up by a giant metal claw and was being dragged towards a giant machine controlled by none other than…  
'Eggman!' Sonic exclaimed.  
'How do you love it, Hedgehog? That Knuckles sure is gullible isn't he?' Eggman giggled.  
'Where is he? Let Tails go!' Sonic exclaimed, standing in front of Amy as a shield.  
'All in good time, Sonic. But for now, it's your turn!' Eggman exclaimed as another giant metal claw came for him too.  
'AMY, RUN! HIDE!' Sonic yelled as he pushed her behind a bush and out ran the claw for a few steps until it got him.  
'SONIC!' Tails and Amy exclaimed in sync. With that, Eggman flew off with Tails and Sonic, probably back to his base. Sonic was trying to yell something out to Amy as he was being carried away but she couldn't hear.  
'Shit! Oh my god, oh my god.' Amy panted frantically. She began to run, she tripped multiple times. She got onto Rouge through her wrist communicator, she was going to need back up.  
'Pinky! I was just about to call you! Shadow has been-'  
'Captured?!' Amy exclaimed, cutting Rouge off as she continued to run.  
'How did you know?!' Rouge yelled in surprise.  
'Get to Tails' workshop now, I'm on my way!' Amy exclaimed and then hung up. As soon as she hung up she contact Cream and Cosmo telling them to get to the workshop right now and they did as they were told. By the time Amy made it to the workshop, the others were already there.

Amy ran straight past the other girls and opened up the garage door, luckily it wasn't locked. Not that it would've been an issue. She ran straight for X-Tornado keys, grabbed them furiously and then turned around and bolted towards the ship.  
'How did you know about Shadow, Amy? Where are the others?' Rouge asked firmly.  
'Are they ok?' Cosmo added.  
'What's going on?' Cream shouted anxiously.  
'Everyone calm down. Get in the ship and I'll explain everything on the way!' Amy exclaimed. Cosmo and Rouge got straight in and after a little hesitation, Cream jumped in too.

Amy couldn't remember how to work the navigation system and didn't want to risk damaging it so she had to go off memory how to find Eggman's base.  
'How do you know how to fly the X-Tornado, Amy?' Cosmo asked.  
'Tails isn't the only one who knows how to fly a plane!' Amy giggled.  
'Alright, what's going on? Where are the boys?' Rouge questioned.  
'Eggman captured them all, I'm assuming that's what happened to Shadow, right?' Amy said.  
'Right.' Rouge answered.  
'He must have some new machine?' Cream spoke up.  
'That's right Cream. However, for it to be so powerful to not even stop Sonic the only thing strong enough to power it must be-'  
'THE CHAOS EMERALDS!' Amy exclaimed, cutting Cosmo off.  
'Huh? What makes you so sure?' Rouge questioned.  
'Tails screamed it out as he was running up to Sonic and I just before he got captured.' Amy told them.  
'Sonic and you?' Cream asked, curious to know what this meant.  
'Uh, not important right now.' Amy brushed her off.  
'She's right, we need to get to Eggman's base and find the guys.' Cosmo said.  
'Right!' Rouge and Cream said in sync.

Once the girls landed near the back entrance of the base, the jumped out and made sure the ship was well hidden just in case something happened. The quickly scurried over to the door.  
'I got this.' Amy said as she pulled out her hammer.  
'WAIT!' Rouge yelled and jumped in front of her.  
'Rouge? What are you doing?!' Cosmo exclaimed.  
'For starters, you'll blow our cover and next it's not even necessary! I can crack this code before you can even put that hammer away.' Rouge said as she turned around and examine the buttons and screen. She punched in a few buttons and just like that, the door opened calmly and quietly.  
'Wow!' Cream exclaimed.  
'Let's go!' Rouge exclaimed and the girls ran down a narrow corridor, unaware of where it was leading  
them. After running for a minute or so they came to a section of the ship that split off the corridor into four more pathways, widening them the further down they went.  
'Which one is it?' Cosmo thought out aloud. Just as she said this they heard a scream, Tails' scream. Cosmo instinctively bolted down that corridor without looking back. The other girls tried to keep up, nervous that it may have been a trap but it wasn't. They came to what appeared to be the centre of the entire base and found the four boys trapped in separate, bulletproof cages. There was some sort of speaker attached to them, hence why they were able to hear Tails scream. Amy tried to run up with her hammer until-  
'AMY STOP!' Knuckles exclaimed.  
'We have to be more strategic, that machine is bigger than all of us.' Tails said nervously. Amy suddenly looked frightened and couldn't help but look at her blue hero. He gave her a smile as if to tell her everything was going to be ok. Before the gang could say anything else, they felt a rumbling beneath their feet causing them all to fall over. Eggman and his new machine made their way into the room.  
'OH HOHOHOHO! Well isn't this a turn of events, eh Sonic?' Eggman said.  
'Can it, Egghead.' Sonic shot back.  
'Usually you're saving the pink girl and now she has come here in the attempt to save you. OH HOHOHOHOHOHO!' Eggman nearly fell over laughing, Sonic couldn't help but bow his head in shame and slight worry.  
'What do you mean 'attempt'?' Amy questioned him, causing Eggman to stop laughing and look at her directly.  
'We can have that heap of junk and the boys out of here before you even know what hit you. Although I'll give you a hint, it'll probably be Amy's hammer.' Rouge said with a smirk.  
'Grrr, why don't you give it a try!' Eggman exclaimed.

Eggman forcefully hit down on a few buttons controlling his machine causing two of the metal claws to rise, Rouge and Amy looked at each other ready to put a plan they had come up with in the previous two seconds. Amy ran in front of Sonic's cage and Rouge ran in front of Knuckles' cage.  
'Amy, what are you doing?!' Sonic exclaimed.  
'Are you two crazy?!' Knuckles exclaimed. The girls just smiled and looked at each other, then returned to the two claws flying their way. As soon as the claws were about to grab them, they jumped up and let them grab Sonic and Knuckles' cages. The claws squeezed the bulletproof sides until they were bulletproof no more. They shattered into little pieces, allowing Sonic and Knuckles to jump free. Amy and Rouge them repeated their same actions for Tails' and Shadows cages as Cream and Cosmo distracted Eggman from stopping the machine from doing so. Amy and Rouge had freed Tails and Shadow and gathered together in group, including Cosmo and Cream, as they watched the machine coming towards them.  
'Alright, we need a plan.' Knuckles said panting.  
'We need to work together if we are to defeat this monstrous beast!' Cosmo exclaimed, standing in front of Cream.  
'Sonic, take my hands. Spin me around and throw me at it.' Amy insisted, walking up to him as Shadow and Rouge tried to distract the beast for a little longer.  
'No way in hell, Amy.' Sonic said firmly.  
'Trust me, I can do it, we don't have time!' Amy said as she cupped his face and gave him a look to try and calm him. He finally gave in, took her hands and they began to spin, once they had built up enough momentum he threw her towards the beast. She broke out of the spin as Shadow and Rouge moved away and drove straight through the machine with her hammer, letting out an almighty scream.  
'Amy!' Cream and Cosmo gasped in sync. The machine began to malfunction, sending out sparks and shocks with Amy still inside.  
'Tails! Find the ship and bring it as close as you can so we can make a quick getaway! Girls, go with him and stay in the ship.' Sonic exclaimed. Tails and the girls did as they were told and ran.  
'You go too, Sonic.' Rouge said calmly as Knuckles and Shadow ran towards the machine trying to find Amy as Eggman was in hysterics and cursing at the gang.  
'I'm not leaving her!' Sonic exclaimed running past her until she held him back.  
'Shadow, Knuckles and I have got this. You need to be at the ship for her when we get there. GO! THERE'S NO TIME!' Rouge said as she turned around and ran towards the machine. Sonic cursed in frustration and ran tout of the base. The X-Tornado was in the air with Tails, Cream and Cosmo on board and Sonic jumped up onto the wing, waiting for the arrival of his friends… and another special someone.  
Seconds later the entire base blew up, forces pushing the Tornado up. Sonic and the others panicked for the other four still down in the base until they saw something coming towards them. It was Knuckles, he jumped up onto the wing and collapsed.  
'Knuckles, where are the others?! What happened?' Sonic exclaimed.  
'Rouge got Amy out…' Knuckles said, panting.  
'Here they come!' Tails exclaimed as her saw Rouge and Shadow flying up, Shadow holding a pink, frail figure in his arms. Tails opened the hatch so Sonic could grab Amy and get in with her. Knuckles sat in the seat behind her and Shadow and Rouge stayed on the wings. Amy wasn't unconscious but she was hazy, unaware of her surroundings.  
'S-Sonic?' She said huskily.  
'It's ok, Ames. You're safe now.' Sonic said as he cradled her in his arms and Tails set the Tornado full speed ahead for their home.

The storm was coming to a peak again, making it hard for Tails to carefully navigate the ship home. They got there though, finally… They got back to Sonic and Tails' to find the power had been cut again, so they fired up the generator in the workshop and lay Amy down on a small bed. Everyone took a seat on some lounges or beanbags, waiting for her to come to properly.  
'Guys, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. He tricked me, again. I thought it was, real. The machine, it just looked-'  
'Knux, honey,' Rouge began, cutting him off, 'It's ok. Shit happens and we'll find the emeralds again. We always do.' She said with a smile as she laced her fingers through his, causing him to blush.  
'Don't blame yourself, man. It's done now and we can all learn from this.' Tails added.  
'What's important now is making sure Eggman doesn't come back with something even more dangerous.' Sonic looking down as he was seated by Amy's bed.  
'Or more painful for that matter…' Amy said as she sat up carefully.  
'AMY!' Everyone shouted as they looked up at her.  
'How you feeling, kiddo?' Shadow said as he was leaning up against a doorframe behind the gang.  
'Dizzy, actually.'  
'You were really brave, Amy.' Cream said with a huge grin making Amy smile.  
'You were very heroic!' Cosmo added.  
'Please don't do it again though.' Knuckles said with a smirk, causing everyone to laugh.  
'The storm looks as though it's really going to peak again, I think we should all stay here again tonight. Everyone to the living room for movies and hot chocolate!' Tails exclaimed and everyone cheered.  
Sonic helped Amy stand up and the all walked upstairs and into the living room. Tails and Cosmo made hot chocolate for everyone while Rouge and Knuckles went and picked out some movies.  
'Mr. Shadow, would you please help me pull out some blankets and pillows? I can't reach the top shelves.' Cream asked cheerfully to the ultimate life form.  
'Uh, sure kid?' Shadow responded anxiously and followed her to the hallway. He never really knew how to act around Cream, they were so different to each other. Although, he tried his best all the same.

'Hey, Ames, come with me for a second and help me yeah?' Sonic said, gesturing for her to follow him to the workshop. This made Amy nervous, really nervous. It was either something really good or really bad, and history dictated it would be something she would consider bad. However, she lifted her chin, took a breath and followed him to the workshop. They got in there and Sonic casually took a seat on one of the beanbags, so Amy sat down on one next to him.  
'So, do you think we'll get the emeralds back?' Amy questioned awkwardly.  
'I don't think it, I know it.' Sonic said with a smile and winked at her and she giggled a little.  
'So, what's up? Everything ok?' She questioned, trying to remain as confident as possible.  
'Everything is great, Ames. There is something I want to tell you.' He said, his confidence and signature smile beginning to fade a little.  
'Oh? Sounds serious.'  
'It is. Well you see, remember the other night when you asked me out and I was made it a joke?' Sonic began.  
'How could I forget? Go on.' Amy said, trying to keep her temper.  
'Well, the thing is… I-'  
*_BANG*  
_Sonic was cut off by a large crashing sound from just outside the workshop. He didn't know if Tails or anyone else upstairs had heard it but he figured better not to risk it and wandered on over to the door anyway.  
'What the hell was that?' Amy questioned.  
'I dunno, but I'm about to find out.' Sonic replied as he opened the door.  
'Oh you've got to be freaking kidding me…'  
'OH HOHOHOHOHOHOHOH! You didn't think I'd give up so easily, did you hedgehog?'  
'Well history dictates that-'  
'Oh shut it.' Eggman cut him off and Amy couldn't help but giggle. Eggman had come back with one of his smaller, older machines. God only knows why, I think his last machine being so strong may have gone to his head. Sonic opened the door a little more and was about to dash out into the rain to defeat Eggman's contraption.  
'Sonic? Where are you going now?' Amy said, pissed and disappointed at the timing.  
'Don't worry, Ames. This'll be a piece of cake.' Sonic said, giving her a wink. Within a minute the rest of the gang was down in the workshop and hanging out the door watching Sonic duke it out with this machine in the rain.  
'Knuckles! Tails! Help him, please!' Amy wailed. They looked at each other and laughed then went back to watching Sonic battle this machine. Rouge couldn't help but smirk, even though that was quite rude of them.  
'Don't worry, Hun. Sonic's got this one in the bag.' Rouge said calmly. Cream and Cosmo placed a hand each on Amy's shoulders as they all went back to watching Sonic. Shadow jumped in to help, out of boredom of course.  
'Shadow, I got this!' Sonic yelled out as he sliced off the machine hand at the wrist.  
'I want some action too!' Shadow said as he crushed the robot's foot causing it to topple over.  
'Then let's just get it over with then, aye?' Sonic said with a smirk and Shadow nodded. They gripped each other's wrists and spun themselves into a double spin attack, driving themselves right through the centre of the machine.  
'NOOOOO! THIS ISN'T OVER!' Eggman exclaimed as he tried to slam more directions into his control panel. Before he could finish, two hedgehogs came flying towards him and knocked him clean out of the sky leaving his machine a pile of scrap metal. A rusty pile of scrap metal thanks to the rain. Sonic and Shadow ran back inside to get out of the rain and closed the door quickly behind them.  
'See, Ames? Told you I had it under control.' Sonic said playfully with a flirtatious smirk plastered across his lips. She couldn't help but smile and shake her head a little, she gave him a gentle punch on the arm as he giggled at her touch.  
'Alright everyone, I just checked the weather report. The storm is going to be picking up like this pretty bad over the next few days so it looks like we might all be caved in for two or three days.' Tails said with a smile.  
'To the living room!' Knuckles cheered and everyone laughed and followed him and Tails. Amy stayed behind and couldn't help but look out the window to make sure Eggman was really gone. Sonic looked around at her and smiled, knowing she was worried. He waiting until everyone else was upstairs until he went over to her.  
'He's gone, Amy, I promise. Well, for now anyway.' Sonic said with a smile as he walked up next to her.  
'Oh, I know. I'm just checking, you know.' She said with a nervous smile as she turned around and began to walk towards the staircase.  
'Wait, Ames. Let's finish our talk? ' Sonic asked as he gestured for her to sit with him on the couch.  
'Sure, I just thought you would've wanted to go straight up is all.' Amy said as she sat down with him.  
'Normally I would but, the truth is, I've never wanted to. If that makes sense?' Sonic began, staring at a very confused fuchsia hedgehog.  
'What I'm trying to say is, uh… well I only made that joke as a sort of way to lighten the mood or stop myself from freaking out. You know I care about you, uh, I mean… I care about you a lot. I really like you, Ames. You know, more than a friend but I never told you because it was always such a big deal and I was trying to protect you and-'  
In the middle of Sonic's poorly worded and nervous rant in the attempt to tell her how he felt, he was suddenly cut off by something warm covering his lips. He knew exactly what it was, except it took a few seconds to register. Amy kissed him, just to shut him up. Her warm lips connected with his and he could feel her smile. He smiled back and guided his hands around to the small of her back pulling her closer. She wrapped her arms up around his neck and ran her hands through his quills. They lost balance for a split second causing them to fall over on the couch, Sonic now over Amy. They broke away and began to giggle.  
'I'm so sorry, Amy"  
'What for?  
'For all those times I hurt you.'  
'I guess you better make it all up to me now then?' Amy said with a playful grin, making Sonic blush and lean in to kiss her again. She kissed him back and ruffled his quills more. She loved the smell of him, the smell of the trees and the wind and nature in itself. The same thoughts coursed through his head, the smell of strawberries and rose perfume drove him close to insanity. He moved his lips away and began kissing her cheek and jaw, moving his hands across her stomach and began tickling her to catch her off guard.  
'S-Sonic, s-s-stop that! I-I-it tickles!' Amy began to laugh a squirm in Sonic's grasp who only pulled her closer. Sonic began to laugh just as much as he heard her delightful squeals and giggles.  
'I love you, Amy.' He said sub-consciously, stopping Amy in her tracks.  
'Really?' She said, her eyes glistening with hope.  
'Really really.' He said as he smiled down at her.  
'I love you too, Sonic.'  
'I know.' He laughed and she gave him a gentle punch on the chin. He giggled and kissed her more until they heard a voice bellow down the stairs.  
'Oi! Are you two coming up with some movies or what?!' Knuckles yelled out, causing Sonic to break away from Amy's lips and they both blushed. They couldn't help but burst into laughter.  
'Quick we need to find something to go back up with, before they come down!' Amy said as she got up and looked around for some movies. Sonic got up and followed her around, picking up a few good movies that he knew everyone would enjoy.

They walked upstairs, both with blushes and smiles all over their faces. Amy tripped up the top step causing them both to dreamily giggle a little, they sounded a little ridiculous but it would pass. Everyone looked on, highly suspicious… Keeping both eyes on the duo as they walked across the room to the TV to place the DVDs down and then as they sat on the couch together.  
'Well, you two are certainly in a good mood?' Tails said confused.  
'That's great! Anything in particular make you guys so happy?' Cream said, oblivious.  
'I'll bet I could take a good guess.' Knuckles said with a smirk making even Shadow chuckle and Rouge elbowed him in the stomach. She didn't say anything, she looked over at Amy and winked. She knew exactly what had happened, and it was about damn time too.  
'Ok, popcorn is ready to go and the rained is bucketing down. Perfect for a good movie.' Cosmo said as she walked over with large amounts of popcorn. She passed buckets around to everyone then sat down on a beanbag next to Tails. Shadow kindly shared a large doona with Cream, she was beginning to grow on him, like a sister of some sort. Rouge curled up to Knuckles on one of the lounges, not worrying about his reaction whatsoever. Of course, Knuckles being as proud as he is, took it in his stride and wrapped an arm around her and tried to remain as confident and… well… comfortable as possible. As for Sonic and Amy, she lay herself down and curled herself up in his chest. He looked down on her and smiled, kissing her on the forehead at the movie began.

_I can't believe I waited so long to tell her. Why? _Sonic thought to himself. _She is beautiful, strong and intelligent and she loves me just the same. I'll never be a tool to her ever again. I better make sure Knuckles and Tails don't make the same mistake either! I have to admit, girls are confusing but I certainly wouldn't change mine for the world. I'm a really lucky guy. It's good to be Sonic the Hedgehog._


End file.
